WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE

WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE

Building the eye-catching Wales Millennium Centre involved dealing with a legacy of the past.

General Information

The Wales Millennium Centre is the first national cultural
institution to be built in Wales for over half a century. The main
elevation is dominated by the Gwyneth Lewis inscription: Creu gwir
fel gwydr O ffwrnais awen / In these stones horizons sing.

The building’s 1,850-seat main auditorium establishes the centre
as a world class venue home to the Welsh National Opera, Urdd
Gobaith Cymru, Diversions Dance Company and Hijinx Theatre
Company.

We provided an alternative, more efficient solution for the
cladding on the auditorium walls. We used varying sizes and
profiles of glass reinforced gypsum blocks that met the building’s
acoustic requirements while also resembling the semi-random pattern
of the external slate and timber elevations.

Originally the building’s orchestra pit was to be excavated
within a contiguous or secant pile wall. We identified that
groundwater flows were lower than anticipated and an open-cut
excavation was undertaken. A new design in the form of a simple,
cost-effective watertight reinforced concrete box eliminated the
need for the proposed 70 piles.

Parts of the elevations are clad in slate blocks from Welsh
quarries. The slate is the waste left over from the production of
roofing slate. Laid in tapering layers to reflect its natural
formation, it was fixed by craftsmen using traditional techniques.

Inside, the building the need for mechanical ventilation and air
conditioning was designed out where practicable. In summer, ice is
manufactured at night using cheap off-peak electricity and then
melted during performances to provide cooling.

An on-site integrated design office enabled major subcontractor
designers to work directly with the design team. The close working
relationships which this approach fostered had a positive impact on
the building programme and undoubtedly contributed to the
successful completion of the project.

Following the successful completion of Wales Millennium Centre,
we were awarded the adjacent Phase 2 development. Home to the BBC
National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Hoddinott Hall provides a 350-seat
auditorium alongside rehearsal and performance space, a recording
studio and ancillary accommodation.